The best Bluetooth speakers with an aux input in 2026

The Bose SoundLink Max is the best Bluetooth speaker with an aux input — it kept both a 3.5 mm jack and USB-C audio when almost every rival dropped them, and it is the best-sounding portable we recommend. The Tribit StormBox Blast does the same job with 90 W behind it for far less money.

The 3.5 mm input is quietly disappearing from portable speakers. It costs board space, it needs a sealed port on a waterproof design, and manufacturers reason that everything is Bluetooth now. That reasoning is mostly right and occasionally very wrong, and it is worth knowing which case you are in before you buy, because you cannot add the jack later.

Three things an aux jack does that Bluetooth cannot

1. It removes latency. A cable has no meaningful delay, so a TV stays in lip-sync and a game's audio arrives on time. This is the single most common reason people go looking for an aux input — see best for TV.
2. It connects things that have no Bluetooth. Turntables, older hi-fi equipment, mixing desks, some instruments, airline seat-back entertainment. A record player is the case we get asked about most.
3. It keeps working when the radio does not. No pairing, no dropouts, no battery in the transmitter, no interference in a crowded space. If your speaker keeps cutting out, a cable ends the argument.

The picks

Illustrative

Best speaker with an aux input

Bose SoundLink Max

The best-sounding portable we know of, and the one that still has an aux jack.

What it does well

Both a 3.5 mm aux input and USB-C audio, so it connects to essentially anything, and it is tonally in a different class from everything cheaper — voices are natural and the bass is controlled rather than merely large. IP67 means the ports are properly sealed.

Where it cuts corners

It costs far more than this site normally argues for, twenty hours is beaten by speakers costing a quarter as much, and at nearly 5 lb it is portable in the sense that a toolbox is.

Who it is for

Anyone who needs a wired input and wants the speaker to be genuinely good.

• Battery: Up to 20 hours
• Water rating: IP67 — submersible to 1 m for 30 minutes, dustproof
• Output: Two 25 W drivers
• Weight: 4.9 lb

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Illustrative

Best value with an aux input

Tribit StormBox Blast

The loudest thing we are willing to call good value.

What it does well

A 3.5 mm aux input alongside ninety watts, IPX7 and over thirty hours quoted, at a price nothing else with a wired input matches. For a garage, a workshop or a second TV it is far more speaker per dollar.

Where it cuts corners

Voiced for volume rather than detail, and bulky. **No microphone input and no built-in mic** — Tribit's own FAQ confirms it, despite the party styling.

Who it is for

Wired duty somewhere the speaker also has to be loud.

• Battery: Over 32 hours in independent testing
• Water rating: IPX7 — submersible to 1 m for 30 minutes

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Best cheap wired option

Avantree PowerByte

A real radio first and a Bluetooth speaker second — which is the right way round here.

What it does well

A wired input plus FM, microSD and USB playback, with 30 W of stereo and bass radiators, at a price well below anything else here. Four sources in one box makes it genuinely useful on a shelf.

Where it cuts corners

No published IP rating, so it never goes outside, and it is a considerably less refined listen than the mainstream portables. Twenty hours is fine but not remarkable.

Who it is for

A workshop, kitchen or bedroom on a small budget.

• Battery: 20 hours
• Water rating: No IP rating published — treat it as an indoor speaker
• Output: 30 W stereo with bass radiators

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Best mountable option with aux

JBL Wind 3

A handlebar speaker with an actual FM tuner — a combination almost nothing else offers.

What it does well

A 3.5 mm aux input, an FM tuner and a microSD slot in a speaker that comes with a handlebar bracket — three ways to play music where there is no phone signal at all.

Where it cuts corners

Five watts is very quiet for anything other than close listening, and retail listings disagree on its exact IP rating, so check the specific one you buy.

Who it is for

Bikes, scooters and campsite use.

• Battery: Manufacturer-quoted; check the current listing
• Water rating: Weather-resistant — retail listings disagree on the exact IP rating, so check the one you buy
• Output: 5 W RMS

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Who genuinely needs one, and who does not

That last row matters. Requiring an aux input rules out most of our usual recommendations — the Soundcore Motion 300, the JBL Flip 7, the Marshall Emberton III and the JBL Xtreme 4 all lack one. If you are never going to plug anything in, do not pay a premium or accept a compromise for a jack you will not use.